Retrial Allowed in Case Of Infant Killed in 1971

After declaring a mistrial in the case of a man charged with killing his infant stepson 26 years ago, a judge today cleared the way for a retrial.

Judge Hilton Fuller of Superior Court declared the mistrial on Monday in the murder case against Jan Barry Sandlin. The case came to trial largely because of efforts of the infant's sister, who was 2 years old at the time of her brother's death and was told by her mother and stepfather that she was at fault. The mistrial was declared after the sister admitted watching her mother's testimony on television.

The judge said he would watch the retrial carefully, and ''if trial events convince the judge that the trial is fundamentally unfair, another mistrial will result.''

The sister, Tracy Rhame, grew up believing she had thrown her brother, Matthew, out of his crib, causing his death. But she later concluded otherwise and persuaded the authorities to reopen the case and exhume Matthew's body. Mr. Sandlin is serving a life sentence for armed robbery in an unrelated case.